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About the course

The programme covers the 11-16 age range, however we are also able to offer all trainees an additional post-16 enhancement through St Joseph's College Sixth Form, and primary experience.

Our ethos is one of providing care and support for 'the whole person'. The programme enables its Graduate Trainees to flourish with the help of a bespoke training plan. Training opportunities to support your individual training plan are identified within your lead or ‘placement’ school and you will have the opportunity to learn from outstanding teachers and school leaders. In addition, your in-school training is complemented by a weekly programme of subject knowledge development and wider professional development sessions. These are delivered centrally at St Joseph's College by outstanding practitioners from our partner schools as well as invited experts. These sessions include specific training around child protection, behaviour management, SEND, EAL, literacy, preventing bullying, assessment and key aspects of effective pedagogy.

Assessment is continuous and evidence- based against the Teachers’ Standards but there is no requirement for the completion of additional assignments. This allows trainees to focus on developing the craft of the classroom. Your day-to-day support comes from your subject mentor in school and wider professional support from the lead school’s Professional Mentor. You have 3 formal assessment points, where a Quality Assurance Lead visits to agree the quality of your evidence against the Teachers’ Standards, your teaching, your reflections on your own progress and of the targets set for your self-improvement. This is supported by in-school half termly reviews with your mentors.

As a provider we pride ourselves on our flexible and supportive approach. You will work to an individual training plan tailored to your developmental needs but also building on any existing strengths and experience. You will be immersed in the life of your lead school from the first day of the new academic year and will therefore benefit from a high level of experience within and beyond the class room, experiencing and gradually assuming ‘the life of a teacher’. In the spirit of ‘gradualism’ your teaching timetable builds up, once you have observed best practice and begun leading parts of lessons, to 50% in term 1, 70% in term 2 and 80% in term 3. Thus you experience much of the curriculum and are able to trial and evaluate different approaches to teaching in order to flourish into the best teacher ‘you’ can be.

Interview process

We assess your potential to train to teach and, because our course is school-based and therefore provides an ‘immersive’ experience of school life, your journey into teaching starts with us at interview.

Here we conduct assessment activities involving students and staff, but we do not ask you to teach a lesson-you’re not a teacher yet! There are 3 parts to the interview which involve a presentation, a pupil panel and a formal interview. All relate to the Teachers’ Standards, the subject you wish to train to teach in, your ability to present, listen and respond to others, and bring out your appreciation of the role of a teacher, the curriculum, how you might help students to make progress and issues that affect our classrooms every day.

Interview panels contain representatives from lead schools and SCITT leaders who are suitably trained, and we moderate all candidate responses, giving feedback where requested.

We love spotting potential teachers who can impact positively on the life chances of young people, so please come and join our noble profession!

How school placements work

A trainee will be assigned to one of our partner schools as the 'lead school' and this is where the majority of their in-school training will take place. This placement commences on the first day of the academic year.

In the spring term trainees will undertake a 'second school experience' in a contrasting school within the locality of not less than 30 days for half a term. A shorter primary school placement of one week takes place in the autumn term, and sixth form enhancement training is available.

Our secondary schools in the partnership include:

Birches Head Academy

Excel Academy

Haywood Academy

Painsley Catholic College

REACH pupil referral unit

Ruskin High School (Crewe)

St John Fisher Catholic College

St Joseph's College

St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy

St Thomas More Catholic College (Willenhall)

St Thomas More Catholic Academy

The Co-operative Academy of Stoke-on-Trent

The Discovery Academy

The Kings CE (A) School

Thistley Hough Academy

These schools are all readily accessible and located within the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding areas.

Fees

The course fees for 2019/2020 are as follows:

Student type

Fees to pay

UK students

£9,000

EU students

£9,000

Financial support

You could be eligible for either:

a scholarship of £28,000

a bursary of £26,000

To qualify for a scholarship you’ll need a degree of 2:1 or above in Physics or a related subject. For a bursary you’ll need a 2:2 or above in any subject.

You can’t claim both a bursary and a scholarship - you can only claim one.

Requirements

Qualifications

Preferably, you should have a degree where the majority of the content is in the subject you are applying to train to teach.

You must:

-have a UK undergraduate degree at 'good' honours level (2:2 or above), or a recognised equivalent qualification which must be awarded before July 2019.

-have GCSE grade 4/grade C or above in English and Maths which must be awarded before July 2018.

-be able to demonstrate an ability to communicate clearly and accurately in both spoken and written English.

-pass the literacy and numeracy professional skills tests within 6 weeks of any offer made.

Personal qualities

We are looking for ambitious trainee teachers who are passionate and enthusiastic about their subject and who can demonstrate a real aptitude for teaching.

It is advantageous if applicants have either paid or voluntary experience of working with the relevant age group of young people, and those with relevant industrial or commercial experience are very welcome to apply.

Other requirements

We ensure that all trainees have been subject to appropriate pre-selection checks:

An enhanced DBS disclosure check and a prohibition check (UK and European Economic Area (EEA)) will be carried out before commencing the programme.

Successful applicants will be asked to complete a medical form prior to commencing the programme assessing 'fitness to train to teach'

About the training provider

St Joseph's College SCITT offers high quality, school-based Initial Teacher Training within the primary and secondary phase leading to the award of QTS. As an established accredited provider of ITT, we have a track record of supporting trainees to reach high standards who have enjoyed excellent outcomes and employment prospects that beat national benchmarks. As a trainee on this programme you will experience a truly school centred approach to your training that will enable you to acquire rapidly the skills needed to become a highly effective classroom practitioner. The programme covers either the 11-16 (secondary) or 5-11 age range (primary), however we are also able to offer all secondary trainees an additional post-16 enhancement through St Joseph's College Sixth Form, and primary experience. For primary trainees we are able to offer secondary experience and EYFS enhancement.

St Joseph's College has been graded by OFSTED as outstanding in every category and is a National Teaching School. We work as part of the St Joseph's College Stoke Secondary Partnership and The Potteries Teaching School Alliance to deliver the SCITT/School Direct programme and this partnership includes lead schools from across Stoke-on Trent and the locality. This is a diverse area whose community the partnership serves to ensure the best possible outcomes for our young people. Our delivery draws on expertise from across our partner schools and this enables us to deliver high quality placements supported by expert subject and professional mentoring.

Training with disabilities and other needs

We welcome applications from all sections of the community. Applicants who would benefit from disabled access should let us know on their application so that they can be considered for placements at appropriate schools.